New iOS 13 beta suggests September release will omit key new features

Apple’s iOS 13 software for iPhone will not offer a complete feature set, judging by the launch of a new beta on Tuesday.

The company has released a new iOS 13 beta for developers, but somewhat surprisingly, the company is serving up the first version of iOS 13.1 even before the main version has been rolled out to consumers (via 9to5Mac).

This version of the OS brings back a couple of features that had been culled from iOS 13.0 betas over the last few weeks. iOS 13.1 includes the promised ability to share an estimated time of arrival within Apple Maps, which had been dropped from the iOS 13 release in recent beta versions.

That also applies to the Siri Shortcut Automations feature, which will allow iOS 13 users to configure shortcuts to run automatically based on user-defined triggers. It’ll be possible to set up automations that run during any time of the day, when a phone alarm goes off, or at a particular location, for example.

It’s also be possible to configure automations when connecting to a specific Wi-Fi network, when connecting to a specific Bluetooth device, when a particular app is opened, or when Do Not Disturb is enabled.

It’s one of the most anticipated iOS 13 features in some quarters, but it appears Shortcut Automations won’t be arriving much before the end of the year.

Elsewhere, iOS 13.1 adds some new dynamic wallpapers, but that feature is unlikely to be at the top of most iPhone owners wish lists.

While it is surprising Apple has launched an iOS 13.1 beta prior to the launch of the full iOS 13.0 release, we’re accustomed to the company staggering some of the main features throughout the release cycle.

Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He's based in South Florida, USA.
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